From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has emphasized the critical role of parliaments in promoting multilateralism through digital trade.
Kalu, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary ( CPS), Levinus Nwabughiogu, stated this at the World Trade Organization/Inter-Parliamentary Union (WTO-IPU) Steering Committee session of the WTO Public Forum 2025 on the sidelines of the ongoing 55th Parliamentary Conference, Geneva, Switzerland.
The statement noted that the deputy speaker, who spoke on the theme “Promoting Multilateralism Through Digital Trade: What Role for Parliaments?”, stated that digital trade is a defining contemporary governance challenge that shapes the daily reality of entrepreneurs and the future opportunities for youth.
He stated that that Africa is proactively building its own regional multilateralism through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its Protocol on Digital Trade, aiming for a harmonized and integrated digital market.
Kalu, while citing Nigeria’s legislative actions, including the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023 and the forthcoming National Digital Economy Bill, stressed that parliaments across Africa are also actively legislating the future of digital trade.
According to him, “the digital economy is no longer a distant promise; it is the daily reality of our entrepreneurs and the horizon of opportunity for our youth. In Africa, we have chosen not to wait for others to write our future.
“Through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its Protocol on Digital Trade, we are building our own regional multilateralism, a blueprint for a harmonized, integrated digital market.
“But blueprints alone do not build houses. Success depends on the laws we pass, the trust we create, and the predictability we guarantee. In Nigeria, we have acted: the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023 safeguards privacy, while the forthcoming National Digital Economy Bill will anchor e-commerce and investment in legal certainty.
“Across Africa, parliaments are not spectators; we are legislating the future. Let us be frank, rules without enforcement are illusions. For smaller economies, a binding, two-tier dispute settlement system is not optional; it is survival.”
He added that “we all know that speeches do not build futures; actions do. For us to move to coordinated action, I propose three steps: a Legislative Tracking Mechanism that engenders peer‑to‑peer accountability, requiring us to report back on how we translate our collective resolutions into concrete action within our national parliaments; Concrete WTO support for AfCFTA implementation to further deepen digital trade in Africa; and a Model Digital Trade Legislative Toolkit developed with UNCTAD and ITC, to equip parliaments with best-practice laws for a pro-development digital economy.”
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